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Split Pea Soup
Split pea soup is a standard at our house, often served with grilled cheese sandwiches for an easy dinner. I like it with bits of leftover ham but you can leave that out or just take the pieces off the ham bone.
- 2 cups (1 lb) split peas, green or yellow
- 3 Tbs butter or oil
- 1 ham hock or ham bone or cut up chunks of bacon
- leftover diced ham, 1-2 cups (optional)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 7 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- pepper to taste
Split peas don't need to be pre-soaked like other legumes.
Heat the oil or butter in a stock pot and cook the ham hock, onions, celery, and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add. the water, split peas, leftover ham if using, and salt to the vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1.5 hours or longer. Remove the ham bone and cut off any meat you can. Dice the meat and return it to the pot. You can mash the soup up or put it through a strainer if you'd like smoother soup.